The missing piece was `constraints: BoxConstraints()` on the
InputDecoration. The app-wide InputDecorationTheme in halo_theme
sets a 48dp min-height for form fields, which the chat input pill
doesn't want. Without explicitly nulling that constraint, the
TextField refuses to collapse below 48dp, so the line-box can't
sit on the parent 44dp container's midline — textAlignVertical
becomes a no-op and the text anchors top.
Switched to the same Material + StadiumBorder + Center wrapper
client_app already uses (chat_screen.dart::_InputBar). Verified
on emulator-5556 driving typed "halo" — text body now sits
visually centered on the pill midline.
Reverts the empirical TextAlignVertical(y: 0.4) shim from 75343f9.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Ramadhan Sjamsani
387f0f65de